However, a top climate scientist says the groups have misquoted him, while a National Party politician has questioned the scientific basis of the survey.

NZ Farming has teamed up with Groundswell and the Methane Science Accord on the survey, which they claim shows 95% of farmers think reducing livestock methane won’t impact climate change, 94% believe methane cuts should not be needed for market access, 93% refuse to use methane inhibitors on their animals, and 88% wouldn’t eat meat or dairy from treated stock.

NZ Farming is an organisation with about 260,000 Facebook followers, while Groundswell and the Methane Science Accord are farming groups which have been making dubious claims about methane emissions for some time, as well as campaigning against any emissions charges for agriculture.

The current government has taken a more-carrot-than-stick approach to climate action for the powerful agricultural sector, removing agriculture - which accounts for more than half the country’s emissions - from the Emissions Trading Scheme last year and delaying planned agricultural emissions pricing until 2030, all while spending hundreds millions of dollars on hoped-for biotech fixes for methane emissions from livestock.

In a media release publicising the survey results, NZ Farming’s Duncan Humm says that farmers are alarmed that unproven biotech tools threaten New Zealand’s hard-earned reputation for natural, pasture-raised meat and milk. “They see methane inhibitors as risky, intrusive and unnecessary—not just to animal welfare, but to consumer trust and export advantage.

“There is growing unease about manipulating the gut microbiome of healthy animals. These interventions go against everything our farming systems stand for.” 

He says that farmers have not been properly consulted on policies that directly affect them. “Farmers feel ignored as unelected boards and bureaucrats push policies without a grassroots mandate. Farmers are now demanding answers:

“Why were hundreds of millions of dollars spent on methane tools without farmer consultation?

“Where’s the “farmer” support the industry claims exists?

“Why did co-ops join AgriZero without asking shareholders?

“If farmers and consumers don’t want these tools, who are they really for—and is compulsion the endgame?

“Why are our levy bodies so out of touch?

The media release goes on to quote climate scientist David Frame as showing that “New Zealand’s ruminants might, at worst, contribute four millionths of a degree celsius warming per year. It would take 250,000 years for that to amount to 1°C.”

However Frame told Carbon News he didn’t say that at all, and the Methane Science Accord has made an incorrect inference. “My view is that the Methane Science Accord group is not a credible source of climate science.”

Frame is an internationally recognised climate scientist. Currently a physics professor at the University of Canterbury, his previous roles include lead author on the fifth and sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, deputy director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and director of the New Zealand Climate Change Research Centre.

Frame was also a member of the government-appointed panel that last year reviewed New Zealand’s biogenic methane science and targets.

He fears the Methane Science Accord is mixing some reasonable points with others that are not remotely plausible. “Some of the points they make are ok, but many of their points are tenuous or mistaken, or poorly contextualised.”

Frame says the Methane Science Accord is also misrepresenting what he and co-authors wrote for last year’s methane review.

“Agricultural methane contributes to climate change, and some of the recent stuff farmers have embraced is flawed in its contextualisation and representation of methane's climate effects.”

Frame says that putting a price on agricultural methane emissions is well-justified, environmentally and economically. “I support pricing approaches to emissions which contribute to climate change.”

Climate denial echo-chamber?

NZ Farming says the combined reach of its survey was to more than 400,000 farmers and rural supporters. The poll was not conducted scientifically or by a member of the Research Association of New Zealand.

National's Grant McCallum, MP for Northland, questioned how scientific the survey was. “I suspect they’ve been asking all their own echo-chamber what they think, and I could have probably predicted that’s what they’d say,” he told Newstalk ZB.

“I think it’s very sad because you’ve got to have a sensible discussion about this stuff, not just focus on talking to yourselves. You need to take the bigger picture.”

Carbon News approached NZ Farming with questions about the survey but did not receive a response. 

Carbon News also asked Federated Farmers if they thought the survey fairly represented their members’ views, but they declined to comment.

Backlash

Methane-reducing feed additives for cattle have faced customer backlash overseas, with UK shoppers threatening to boycott major supermarkets stocking milk from cows fed the methane-busting additive Bovaer, and New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra even taking to social media to reassure consumers that it wasn’t using the additive.

However such biotechnology initiatives form a key part of the government’s strategy to reduce agricultural methane emissions.

Simon Watts, Climate Change minister, told Carbon News that the government has invested $400 million over four years to accelerate the commercialisation of tools and technologies that help reduce on-farm emissions. “A large portion of the current investment in agricultural emissions reduction is funded by the private sector and industry, alongside joint public-private investment funded by the government.”

Watts says that AgriZeroNZ, the government’s partnership with agribusiness companies, is “accelerating the development and deployment of practical tools and solutions to support our farmers in increasing productivity without closing down farms or sending jobs overseas.”

There is currently $46.2 million committed across AgriZeroNZ’s investment portfolio, with 13 investments to date and a further 81 on the radar. Projects include:

• research into methane vaccines and methane inhibitors

• innovative probiotics

• pasture treatments

Watts says the government and private sector are committed to supporting “effective and affordable solutions” that drive down agricultural emissions while maintaining or improving productivity and profitability.

“We want to ensure that our farmers remain the best in the world and at the forefront of global methane mitigation efforts. The sooner we can get new tools and technologies into the hands of our farmers, the better.”

Affordable solutions

He says the government is mindful that solutions need to be affordable for farmers and for the need to avoid imposing further costs upon industry and government.

“The Government has been clear, we won’t shut down farms or send production overseas.”

Watts believes climate emissions are a growing concern for New Zealand farmers in terms of access to overseas markets, particularly as global markets place greater emphasis on sustainability. “This is evidenced by the recent announcements by Fonterra to offer incentives to farmers to reduce emissions.”

He says the primary sector is “the engine room” of the New Zealand economy, supporting 360,000 jobs and adding $56.9 billion to our economy. “To protect and grow access to high-value overseas markets, it’s essential we work with our farmers to meet our climate targets which supports New Zealand’s sustainability credentials."

Unlike the survey respondents, Watts says he would eat meat or dairy from livestock treated with methane inhibitors. “All food products here in New Zealand must adhere to food safety and regulation standards before reaching consumers.”